India and China have to explain themselves after COP26. Image Courtesy – The Times
The United Nations International Conference on Pollution ended in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday. The name of the conference was ‘COP26’. Its full form is Conference of the Parties, COP in brief.
The organizer of the conference alleged that India and China had “poured water” on the COP26 proposal. This is the first time an environmental conference has adopted a resolution against fossil fuels. The COP26 proposal initially called for a complete ban on coal as a fuel within a specified period. But with the help of China, India changed the language of the proposal. It said the use of coal as fuel would be “reduced”.
Speaking at a press conference on Downing Street in London, Alok Sharma, the Organizar said that India and China would have to make excuses for fossil fuels. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, however, said that the changes made to the COP26 proposal were not very significant. The proposal initially stated that the use of fossil fuels would be a ‘face out’. Later it was written, ‘Face down’.
Boris Johnson also said, “As an English speaker myself, there is not much difference between the words face out and face down”. He later commented on the proposal to virtually stop the use of coal in Glasgow.
More than 100 countries have now joined this US and EU-led coalition to reduce 30% of methane gas emissions by 2030. This is indeed a significant step towards limiting the factor for climate change. The fact is that methane is one of the major factors for climate change throughout the world.
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The global methane commitment covers those countries that are responsible for 50% of the global methane emissions. Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon but, does not exist for a long time in the atmosphere before it breaks down. This property makes methane an important target to quickly tackle climate change, along with reducing other greenhouse gas emissions.
Barry Rabe, Professor, University of Michigan, told that the current time when the summit dedicated amazing attention to reducing methane emissions, this commitment is just a commencement.
The global commitment includes six of the top 10 methane emitters of the world – the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Pakistan. However, Russia, China, and India are equally responsible for 35% of the methane emissions. But, they did not join the alliance.
US President Joe Biden said that the launch of the commitment on methane pollution was going to create a huge difference in the field of health, food supply, and economy, and not just help in fighting climate change.
The summit negotiates among 200 countries targeting fossil fuels because fossil fuel is the prime factor for climate change. The deal ended with a last-minute change that officials mentioned was a softening of critical language regarding coal power.
